Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Spent about 3 hrs this afternoon (when I was supposed to be working and doing my taxes) tracking down a compost bin. Who knew they were so hard to find? All I kept hearing was "nope, we don't carry them, but you can build your own."

This is where the distinction between "can" and "want to" comes into play. Yes, given enough time and motivation......I probably could have built my own. Possibly even in this century. Put in all practicality, if I ever was to get to actual composting.....I needed a plastic one (that can be sprayed down with a hose) that snapped together.

Whew, finally found one at Smith & Hawkins. It is now nestled into my backyard. I even threw some old leaves into it for good measure. Now I need to read the instructions (I am a city girl - this composting thing does not come naturally to me).

4 comments:

jmm922
said...

I know you already got one, but Gardener's Supply is a very good source for gardening stuff- they have composters and compost starter mix- to help speed up the process. They are on the internet. I got one very similar to yours a few years ago, but have yet to get good compost made. I believe this is because I need to get a pitchfork and mix it up periodically. I think by this summer I'll have some though. There is some good info online on how to compost too- like what percentages of different components work best. Not too many grass clippings for example or you'll get a stinky pile of compost. Have fun!

Hey, thanks for the info! I'll look at their website for the accelerator and other garden stuff. I like hearing about places that come highly recommended. The only reason I didn't buy online (I'm all about front door UPS delivery usually) is that I wanted some place to put my garden clean-up, old leaves and the spruce tips that were in my front flower boxes ASAP. And I was a little too lazy to bag it all. Haha.

My neighbors are all A-types in lawn upkeep, and I feel some pressure in not being the slobby yard on the block.....I'll save that for lawn mowing mid-summer :-).

Check with your local landfill facillity.Our landfill operators(the Town) offer for sale at reduced prices compost units very similar to the one pictured.They do this every spring both to help the homeowner but also to reduce the bulk at the landfill.

hello, I had to make a comment about the compost bin. I bought mine at a Menard along with a box of powdered "accelerater". And was I disappointed with that powder! One day, I was emptying the birdbath of the dirty water when an idea shined on me. I threw the dirty water into the compost bin over the yard debris to see what would happen. In two weeks, I noticed the debris was "breaking down". With a pitchfork to turned over the debris to add air increased the break down. I had been using this method for over ten years now. It's something to think about.